Horcrux Society
by adamstoker
Summary: After arriving at Horgwarts, new Slytherin Vincent quickly adapts to the lifestyle but soon he learns that its not always the teachers that are running things at Hogwarts
1. The First Steps A Doozy

Vincent had always known he wasn't like the other people around him. He wasn't outwardly strange it not like he went around rambling or threatening people but there was something about him that was off, and the other children could sense it too. For the most part they ignored him, they gave him a wide berth in hallways and common areas but some of them were more unnerved by his presence then the others, those ones attacked him bullied him they waited until they couldn't be seen and harassed him.

To be honest it didn't really faze him to much and he always gave as good as he got, it was just a part of his life at St Bernards boarding school it had been since the day he had arrived.

Vincent had been at St Bernards for the majority of his life his adopted parents had sent him there within a few months of adopting him so apart from the orphanage it was the only home he really knew and he knew it well. His days pretty much followed a schedule wake up dress first lesson, second lesson, break, a quick fight with who ever felt like he had wronged them usually a guy in the year above him Jeremy. After that it was back to lessons until lunch then more lessons until it was time to head back to the dorms and sleep

Lunch was Vincents favorite time of the day, he could usually evade his would be assailants and escape to the back of the school. It was always quiet around the back the only visitors were the older smokers who would chat amongst themselves, but the unpopularity of the place wasn't the appeal between two big dumpsters which sat against the wall of the building was a sturdy drain pipe. Vincent had discovered it one day when he had seen a teacher scorning some of the smokers, knowing he would also be acused if caught he quickly dived between the dumpsters and waited for the teacher to leave. But the teacher had stayed obviously waiting for more smokers to appear around the corner, shuffling backwards to make sure he couldn't be seen he jumped when his back hit a cold hard surface. Turning around he saw the drain pipe, as he continued to wait between the dumpsters he quickly came to the conclusion that the teacher wasn't going to leave until the bell went and he was quickly running out of time lateness was a serious offence at St Bernards. Making a snap decision Vincent decided to climb the pipe, gripping the metal pipe with both hands he began the climb carefully lifting himself up the drain trying his best not to cause the pipe to strain and crack revealing his location to the teacher below.

When he was half way up he had realised the fault in his logic, that the punishment for being late or being suspected of smoking was going to be much less severe than the punishment for scaling the side of the building. But Vincent was not one to quit so gritting his teeth he finished his climb making sure not to look down until he was sitting on the edge of the roof.

He thought looking down would make his stomach turn but he surprised himself at his calmness, looking down he could see the top of the teachers bald head the light practically bounced off it like a mirror. Tempted to spit on the shining target below him Vincent built up a mouth full of saliva before he spotted a better target, hiding in a bush he spotted two of the smokers who unlike their unfortunate friends had avoided being spotted by the teacher. Swinging his legs onto the flat roof Vincent carefully walked along the edge until he was directly on top of the smokers, once he was properly positioned Vincent fired at his unsuspecting victims.

As soon as the spit left his mouth Vincent ducked out of sight and waited until a large cry came from below him "what the hell was that" the smoker shouted revealing his location to the nearby teacher. Vincent chuckled to himself as he heard the teacher shouting at the boys as they tried to run and avoid capture.

After that day Vincent climbed up to the roof everyday, he had always like heights, he liked the fact that he was free up here, the children of St Bernards were under strict surveillance, it was a rare event if a student was more than 3 meters from a member of staff ever. It had always made him think off the way one of his teachers used to talk about rats. There was always one near you even if you couldn't see them.

So the roof became his safe haven from the teachers and bullies below, he would sit up there for the entirety of his lunch break looking down at the students below trying to find Jeremy and his band of morons as the looked for him. When that became boring he began to draw, once you got past the depressing walls of the school the area around him was a beautiful place.

It was one of these lunches when it all began it had started out normal enough Vincent had quickly left Mrs Burges history lesson and had dashed outside, like always he was one of the first out the other kids would hang back waiting for their friends. Making his way around the back of the building he quickly climbed the pipe and sat on the edge of the building, eating his lunch as a sea of children emptied out of the doors below him.

After he had finished eating he opened his bag and pulled out his headphones and a note pad. Putting his Mp3 on shuffle he began to finish the drawing he had started the day before, with his full attention on the drawing and his music blaring Vincent didn't hear the scraping noises which came from the edge of the wall where the pipe meet the roof.

As he finished the shading on a feather of the crow he had drawn he felt faint vibrations in the floor, finally turning around to investigate the cause a feeling of dread filled him to his very core. Standing behind him was a triumphant looking Jeremy flanked by two of his cronies and a third fatter one who was slumped on the floor behind them feet still hanging over the edge. Seeing Jeremy's lips move Vincent tore off his headphones "look who we found boys" Jeremy announced as his idiot sidekicks giggled goofily "you thought you had outsmarted us didn't you Vinny he continued "but we found you".

The initial feeling of dread was quickly replaced by anger "to be honest outsmarting you lot isn't exactly a difficult feat" Vincent taunted "i've seen more slugs with a higher IQ than you lot". He knew that it probably wasn't a good idea to antagonize them but his anger overtook his logic, this was his place the roof was his private place and they had no right to be here. Jeremys smug look vanished, stepping forward he balled his hands into fists "what was that you little weasel?" Jeremy asked still advancing "im sorry" said Vincent "i meant higher than you lot combined" he said getting to his feet and turning his own hands into fists.

Jeremy continued to advance quickly but instead of stopping to punch Vincent like he usually did Jeremy shoved into a surprised Vincent knocking him clear off his feet. Hitting the floor inches from the edge Vincent looked up and Jeremy his fear had returned "what the hell you psycho?" he said trying to get back onto his feet "you could have killed me", looking past Jeremy Vincent saw the scared look on the faces of the goons. This was obviously not part of their plan. "Not a bad idea" Said Jeremy punching him in the stomach knocking the wind out of him, before Vincent could recover Jeremy shoved him again this time sending him over the edge.

What happened after that was confusing, Vincent remembered falling seeing the smug face of Jeremy disappear and the feeling of nothing underneath him except the pull of gravity and the sound of rushing wind and his tie flapping around him. But then Vincent twisted his body around now facing the floor which was rushing to meet him, a hot burning feeling spread through his body and suddenly Vincent stopped falling and began to glide forward, the sound of his clothes flapping was gone replaced by a calmer more organised flapping. Gliding down slowly Vincent aimed for a tree on the edge of the exercise track, landing easily on the lowest branch suddenly a hot feeling rushed over him and Vincent began to wobbled as he tried to balance and sit on the branch under his feet.

Looking back at the roof Vincent could see Jeremy and his friends as they stared at him in the tree shook and awe on their faces. Clambering out of the tree Vincent looked around to see if anyone else had seen what he had done, but what had he done he should be dead or at the very least severely crippled. It just didn't make any sense had he flown, maybe it was a miracle maybe St Bernard was looking over him like the headmaster said each morning in assembly.

After that day Jeremy and his friends never bothered him they seemed to be scared of him, one day he had accidently ran into Jeremy in the hall knocking his book to the floor. Jeremy was ready to attack until he realised who he had bumped into, he quickly ran off down the hall leaving his books scattered on the floor.

Other weird things began to happen after that, he would wake up in the middle of the night with black feathers covering his bed, and on some night after having vivid dreams of flight or birds he would wake up in a different part of the school.

But the weirdest thing was that animals began to follow him around the school it was just moths and flies at first but then bigger animals like rats and mice it got so bad that at its worst point the tree around the school where so filled with ravens and crows that they look pitch black from a distance.

The weirdness did not go unnoticed by the staff of the school they began forcing the students to attend weekend sermones at the local church and they even brought in a priest to cleanse and bless the buildings. Eventually when all that failed they began to work out that the common denominator was Vincent and just after his eleventh birthday they called him to the headmasters office for special meeting.

Vincent was in the middle of a history lesson when it happened, Mrs Burges was droning on about henry the eighth and his many wives not that Vincent was paying attention, his was too busy making faces at the crows outside the window. It was a slow day for the birds there were only three of them.

His attention was brought back to the class when he heard his name announced "Mr Grant" Vincent look back to the teacher at the front of the class and was met by the confused stare's of the entire class looked down at himself for an explanation to their stare's his name was called again.

Looking at the front of the class he saw his teacher standing next the the headmaster himself "come with me Mr Grant" he said arms crossed already annoyed at having to repeat himself. Vincent quickly got out of his chair and followed the Head out of the class and down the hall making sure to leave a little space between them, Vincent wasn't sure why he was being summoned but he had heard rumours of surprise exorcisms being performed on student but he was pretty sure that wasn't true. Or at least he hoped.

When they came to the heads office Vincent was pushed inside. He had never been inside the heads office before, he had never been caught doing anything that would warrant it, he never got caught. It was a old looking room two bookshelves dominated the left and right wall and the other was just a big window looking out over the exercise field, a large oak desk sat in front of the window with a leather throne like chair behind it on which the head sat down gesturing for Vincent to sit on one of the two chairs opposite him.

Still exercising caution Vincent eased into the chair and was surprised to see another man sitting in the other chair next to him. The man had been hidden by the tall back of the chair he was sitting in, but now Vincent had noticed him it was hard to take his eyes off of him he had long blond hair tied in a ponytail which stretched so long that he had it resting on his knee it was neatly tied and covered in golden rings each ring spaced out a inch or two. His hands were covered in what appeared to be mood rings of different size and shape each changing colour in order giving the effect of a rainbow creeping across his fingers. The oddest thing was that a man with such weid features was dress in an normal but expensive looking three piece suit. The man bowed his head as Vincent sat down "Mr Grant" said the Head trying to bring the attention back to him "this is Mr" he was cut off by the man who jumped to his feet and thrusted his hand at Vincent "Mr Stepside" he said shaking Vincents hand vigorously before jumping back into his seat "sorry for interrupting but i do prefer to make my own introductions". "Okay" the Head continued "as i was saying this is Mr Stepside he is from a prestigious boarding school and according to him and the papers your parents have sent me he is here because you have been selected to be apart of his school".

"What school?" Vincent asked, he barely talked to his adoptive parents but he liked to think a complete move would be something they would share with him "Hogwarts" said Mr Stepside as he pulled out a small pouch from his jacket pocket. "Well i for one have never heard of Hogwarts" said the Head "and i am not willing to realise Vincent on the hearsay of a few letters.." the Head probably would have continued but all of a sudden Mr Stepside threw the contents of the little pouch into the Heads face. Vincent expected the Head to shout in anger grab Mr Stepside by the collar and throw him off the grounds but instead he sat in his chair motionless even his facial expression stayed fixed.

"Good know we can talk" said Mr Stepside depositing the pouch back into his pocket, Vincent got out of his seat and waved his hand in front of the head face but he remained still as a statue "what the hell was that? he asked". "a little mixture of ground hob tooth, some jot weed and of course a little pinch of hexenjuice" Mr Stepside answered "some basic potion ingredients" Vincent looked back at him unsure in his sincerity "what like a magic potion?" he asked. "no it a magic powder not a potion" said Mr Stepside matter of factly "now sit back down we have a lot to discus".


	2. Mr Stepside

Returning to his seat Vincent looked at the eccentric looking man "tell me Vincent" said Mr Stepside "how much do you know about magic?" Vincent shrugged "i thought so" said Mr Stepside sighing loudly. "Well first of all magic is not the thing of fantasy that you may have been lead to believe it to be" he said "we are very real" to make sure this point was clear Mr Stepside reached into his pocket and pulled out a long wand and tapped the tip of the wand on the Heads desk. Slowly the desk began to rise off the floor and continued to rise until it hit the ceiling leaving a the frozen head completely exposed ,Vincent looked up at the desk open mouthed in awe. "The reason i am here is because you are a wizard" Mr Stepside continued "since your adopted it may be because your birth parents were wizards but its quite common for wizard to be born from muggle families", putting his wand away Mr Stepside reached into another pocket and pulled out a empty tea cup. "I'm here to help prepare you, buy you your school equipment and send you on your way to Hogwarts to learn and become a fully fledged wizard, you with me so far?" Vincent nodded slowly trying to take in exactly what he was saying. The cup in Mr Stepside hand began to fill itself "you've probably experienced some magic already it tends to bleed through around this age" he tapped the side of the cup and the liquid inside began to stir. "Well i think i flew once" Vincent said still watching the tea, this news seemed to surprise Mr Stepside "you flew?" he asked, Vincent nodded "i was pushed off the roof and i fell but then i sort of glided away and landed in a tree". Mr Stepside let go of the cup and it hung still in the air as he turned toward Vincent "you actually flew and landed like a bird?" Vincent nodded "yeah ever since i've been having problems with birds" Mr Stepside looked at him confused "what do you mean?".

Vincent pointed out to window at three crows which were peering inside on the other side of the window, they seemed to be the same ones from the classroom "they follow me around all day and i think they found a way into my bedroom because i always wake up with black feathers in my bed". Mr Stepside looked surprised and shocked "that should not be possible Animagi train for years and you do it in your sleep" Taking ahold of his tea cup Mr Stepside took a long drink before shoving the cup back into his pocket "Mcgonagall is going to love you". Mr Stepside jumped to his feet and snapped his fingers, a rattling came from the corner of the room and a cane a top hat shot into his hand "come on we'll talk more on the way time is of the essence i have another child to pick up before the day ends". Mr Stepside strode out of the office with Vincent close behind.

A loud crash came from behind them as they left the building " what was that" exclaimed Vincent before he was hurried along by Mr Stepside "it just the Heads desk" loud cry of pain followed the crash "and thats the desk landing on the Heads foot". Climbing into a waiting car they drove off leaving the first ten years of Vincent's life behind them.

The drive took about five minutes but they must have traveled miles from the moment they left the school he could tell that the car to gaining speed, which was slightly unnerving since there was no driver, quickly the scenery blurred until it was just a smear of color on the windscreen. They came to a sudden stop which would have shot Vincent out of his seat if he hadn't be wearing his seatbelt "wait here" ordered Mr Stepside as he got out of the car and disappeared into the building in front of them. The building was a new fancy looking building nothing like the old dusty St Bernards a sign could be seen next to the door it read "Stone walls school for gifted girls" Vincent groaned loudly. great a egg head.

Vincent was stuck in the car for a hour he was bored senseless, he only had his thoughts to entertain himself, that and the crows which were perched on top of the car staring in through the sunroof but mess with the birds got dull after a while. Eventually Mr Stepside appeared with a small girl in toe. The girl was very shy looking, her long snow white hair partially hid most of her face in a way Vincent suspected was on purpose. Climbing into the car the girl sat close to the door "Mr Grant may i introduce Miss Debbie Starling, Miss Starling this is Mr Vincent Grant" Vincent held out his hand which Debbie carefully took a shook lightly.

Mr Stepside tapped his cane on the wheel of the car and the car started up and shot off quickly reaching its top speed, Looking over at the girl Vincent saw her face turn a visible shade of nauseous green.

After five minutes of awkward silence the car stopped again suddenly, unlike Vincent Debbie hadn't put on her seat belt and shot forwards smacking her head on the chair in front of her, Vincent ignored the other two as Mr Stepside babied the girl and looked out the window. They were no long in the countryside the sun was eclipsed by the tall buildings surrounding them, getting out of the car the trio head into one of the nearby buildings. Vincent was surprised he had barely noticed the pub they went into he had assumed it was condemned, the boarded windows and the crooked sign definitely gave that impression, looking up he saw the sign read The Leaky Cauldron but he was quickly pushed inside.

Inside the the room was cold dark and damp, a few patrons were scattered around the place each at a different stage of drunkenness, they were hurried past these people and pushed into a cramped back room. The room was empty or at least so they thought, Mr Stepside brought up his cane a tapped at the brick wall in front of them. The last tap of his cane didn't seem that hard but the brick underneath it disappeared, Vincent assumed it had been knocked through to the other side but the bricks around it quickly followed. The Brick quickly fell away revealing a arched doorway and one of the most busy streets Vincent had ever seen "welcome children to Diagon Alley" seeing the amazement on the children's faces he tried to elaborate "think of it like a muggle shopping center except magic" .

Before they had time to take in the vast amount of strange and wondrous things that didn't seem like they could all be occurring in one place Mr Stepside ushered them on "come on we haven't got all day we've got a lot of thing to buy in not a lot of time" he said smirking at his joke. Vincent rolled his eyes at the lame rhyme and hurried into the first store whose windows were filled with long robes of different colors and sizes some of which were padded and draped on mannequins astride brooms. Inside the tailor greeted them with a wide smile "welcome and what do we have here new students?" he asked, a tired look on his face told Vincent that they were probably the latest on many student he had see today, Mr Stepside nodded "two Hogwarts uniforms" he ordered as he pulled a large amount of money from a pocket and started counting out the right amount. "Of course sir" the tailor said pulling out two stools "step up here please" Vincent and Debbie complied climbing onto the stools as the tailor pulled two long measuring tapes letting go of one it fell to the ground. Within seconds the fallen tape jumped to attention and floated over to where Debbie was standing, Vincent tried to stifle a giggle at the panicked look on Debbie's face as the tape streched out to take the measurements.

Mr Stepside disappeared halfway through the fitting to collect their books saying "it would be more time effective", the tailor did a very good job Vincent and Debbie were only there for fifteen minutes before they were fully fitted in new grey and black robes. Vincent noticed similar robes on four of the mannequins except each robe had a different colour lining red. blue, yellow and green, looking inside his own robes he noticed that theirs was black on the inside. "Well you two are all done" said the tailor as he put away the stools and stretched wide "is there anything else i can help you with?" Vincent nodded and gestured to the green lined robes "why do those robes have colours?" he asked. The Tailor looked over at the mannequins "oh those are for second years" he explained "once you get put into a school house you'll get a appropriate colour robe". "What house's?" squeaked Debbie, Vincent almost jumped at the voice, Debbie had remained silent the entire time to be honest Vincent was surprised she could talk at all "at Hogwarts there are four houses Gryffindor Hufflepuff Ravenclaw and Slytherin when you arrive you be put into one of those house's, anything else?", Vincent nodded "could you put in a couple inside pockets".

Mr Stepside returned carrying two bags which he quickly handed over "there you all the books you need" he thanked the Tailor and hurried the children out back in the street and into another shop this one had a swinging sign out the front which read Ollivanders.

Stepping inside the shop seemed deserted but a smiling Mr Stepside approached the front desk and rang the bell, a loud ding rang through the shop and suddenly an old wrinkly man appeared between two stacks of boxes. "A ha" the man cried rushing up the to the desk "i thought i would be seeing you here soon Gerald" he said he huge grin showing obvious affection and friendship "let me guess you're in a hurry?" he asked chuckling "you know me well Mr Ollivander" Mr Stepside said beaming back at the old man.

"Who have you got for me this time?" Ollivander asked looking over the Vincent and Debbie "new students" Mr Stepside said "this is Vincent Grant and Debbie Starling" Ollivander went over to them a roughly shook them by the hand "excellent" he exclaimed "i love new faces, i never forget a face you know". Ollivander clapped loudly "well let get started" he said before he rushed back the rows of boxes lining the walls. The way Ollivander acted reminded Vincent of a squirrel, quickly rushing around the store bringing them seemingly random boxes before snatching them back and scurrying to a different pile. After what seemed like an hour Ollivander cried out in joy "i've got it i think ive got it" he shouted as he opened a box and carefully placed a brown wand into Debbie's open hand "give it wave" Ollivander encouraged. Waving the wand the bell on the began to float off of the desk just as the Heads desk had back at St Bernards, Ollivander clapped loudly "i thought so" he said picking up the wand "Ash wood with a Kelpie hair core a flexible wand bonds quickly to it owner".

"Now let see if your the same" said Ollivander handing Vincent a similar wand, not waiting for instruction Vincent quickly waved the wand, instantly the tip of the wand exploded sending splinters flying in all directions. Everyone ducked quickly, "okay not that one" said Mr Stepside getting to his feet brushing the wood fragments off of his suit, Ollivander grabbed the remains of the wand and an back to the stacks of box'es. He returned with a different wand "here unicorn hair" he said placing the wand in Vincents hand, carefully Vincent waved the wand, the tip of the wand glowed red and as the red glow moved up the wand it began to melt. Dropping the liquid quickly Vincent stepped back holding his burnt hand, Ollivander huffed disappointedly before walking back to the stacks less enthusiastic than before, he soon returned with another wand "dragon heartstring" he announced handing over the wand.

Everyone took a step back as Vincent rose the wand and hesitantly gave it a wave, this time nothing happened a sigh of relief ran though the group, Vincent waved the wand again slightly disappointed at the lack of effect. A loud thump came from the back of the store, waving the wand again Vincent heard a second thump Ollivander disappeared to investigate the noise, Vincent waved again and again there was a thump louder this time. Before he could wave it a fourth Ollivander reappeared carrying a small box "one more time Mr Grant" he asked holding onto the box tightly, Vincent waved the wand again, suddenly Ollivander shot forwards as the box pulled towards Vincent. "This is peculiar" Ollivander said getting to his feet, opening the box Ollivander brought out a long black wand out of the box, placing the wand into Vincent's hand he took a big step back partially hiding himself behind the front desk. A rush of power flowed through Vincent, turning the wand over in his hand he studied the wood, in was black but it had a faint white silvery pattern drawn into it, once the rush of power the wood became cold to the touch. "Go on then" said Mr Stepside looking impatiently at his watch as Debbie clutched her wand tightly scared of another explosion, Vincent lifted the wand and waved it slowly, at first it looked like nothing happened Mr Stepside let out a annoyed groan but a gasp from Debbie brought everyone's attention to the boxes around them. Slowly the wand boxes rose off the ground and their shelfs and floated over to where Vincent stood, slowly increasing in speed they began to orbit him, grinning widely Vincent waved the wand again and suddenly the boxes quickly flew back to their original positions. Looking around them Vincent thought the place looked tidier than when they first arrived "there we go that took way longer than expected" Mr Stepside said as he fished out another bag of money leaving it on the desk.

"so what kind is it?" Vincent asked studying the wand looking for some clue, as if if would be written on the handle, Ollivander looked down at the wand with what looked like fear in his eyes "it one of a kind" he said picking up the money and storing it in the old timey register. "That wand was made after an escape attempt at Azkaban one of the guards was killed, a Dementor" the mention of Dementors had pulled Mr Stepsides attention from his watch "i remember hearing about that" he said. Ollivander nodded "well wands are made with a magical core a hair from a unicorn, a heart string of a dragon so a wandmaker in had the idea to make a wand with a different core a magical source which nobody had ever dared to use before" Mr Stepsides face darkened as he understood what the wand maker was saying. "that wandmaker" Ollivander said "bribed a guard and got ahold of the Dementors body, harvesting one of its bones the maker fashioned that wand" he said pointing at the black object in Vincents hand "the ministry stopped him before he could make another but that one had already been sold to my father".

Coming around the desk Ollivander took ahold of Vincents shoulders, making sure his message would get across "be careful with that wand Mr Grant a Dementor is a foul and dark creature that feasts on joy and the soul itself" shaking free of Ollivanders grip Vincent rushed out the door.


	3. Dementors and Tormentors

Vincent waited outside the store until the othersemerged both Mr Stepside and Debbie looked at him nervously before they carried on down the alley. After that they left Diagon alley they returned to the Leaky Cauldron, Mr Stepside payed for their rooms and told them to sleep early as they were going to be on a tighter schedule, but Vincent thought that Mr Stepside would knock down the door and drag him out before he let them be late. Retiring to their rooms Vincent laid back on his bed turning his new wand over in his hand and let his mind drift back on what Ollivander had told him.

It probably doesn't mean as much as they said, after all the other cores were made from weird stuff as well. Getting out of the bed Vincent walked over to where he had left his new books, looking at the sleeves he picked up one that read "Magical Creatures of the Wizarding World". Getting back onto the bed Vincent flipped through the book trying not to read the pages he past as he would still like to sleep tonight. Eventually he got to the Dark Creatures section flipping through some more pages Vincent found the page he needed, The word Dementor was in a large black text at the top of the page further down the page there was a drawing of a man lying on the floor in obvious pain with a long dark figure floating over him. The creatures features could not be seen through the black cloak it wore, reading the text on the page Vincent began to realise just why the others had reacted to the news the way they had.

The Dementor is the foulest creature known to wizard kind, they are classified as non beings as they are neither dead or alive. 3 meters in size the Dementor is covered head to toe in a long dark shroud the only parts of the body which are revealed are the hands and occasionally the mouth. Dementor feed on joy and emotions of happiness stripping them from their victims, if allowed to fully feed on a victim a Dementor will suck all happiness from the victim leaving them with only the worst memories and depressing thoughts. The Dementors will also attempt to use the Dementors Kiss to finish off a victim, the Dementors Kiss steals the victims very soul causing death of the most horrible kind.

Vincent closed the book, put it back on the pile and returned to bed to think, how could these things even exist? how on earth could someone even be near one of these things let alone make a wand from one. Turning uncomfortable under the sheet Vincent tried to sleep knowing that if he stayed awake he would not stop thinking about the horrible source of his beautiful new wand. Eventually Vincent drifted into an uneasy dreamless sleep.

Vincent was awoken by a loud rapid knocking on his bedroom door "get up get up get up" came the excited voice of Mr Stepside through the door "we are leaving in one hour be down stairs or i will drag you out the door". Vincent dragged himself out of bed and unlocked the door, trugging across the hall he went into the bathroom. When he returned to his room he quickly got dressed and collected his things he bundled them into his duffle bag before stomping down the stairs. With the morning sun coming through the windows the Leaky Cauldron didn't look as depressing as it had the day before, scanning the room he quickly found Debbie and Mr Stepside sitting at a table eating breakfast. Sitting next to them Mr Stepside handed him a plate and Vincent quickly tucked into a full english breakfast "eat it quickly" Mr Stepside said checking his watch again "why?" asked Vincent "we've still got a quarter of an hour until you said we have to go". Mr Stepside jumped out of his seat "yes but since we're all ready we can get there a bit early" he said with a wide smile causing Vincent to groan tiredly as he dragged himself to his feet and followed the overly excited Mr Stepside out the door.

Climbing back into the car they set off the scenery blurred as the car hit its top speed, quickly Vincent strapped his seatbelt on just in time as seconds later the car came to a sudden halt sending Debbie flying forwards again into the seat infront of her, Vincent chuckled as Mr Stepside helped Debbie back up. Climbing out of the car Vincent instantly recognised where they were "this is King's Cross" he said looking around them "this is how we're getting to the school?" he asked as he followed Mr Stepside to the back of the car. "yes this is how we get to Hogwarts, stand back" Mr Stepside said as he opened the boot of the car a jumped out of the way narrowly missing two large suitcases which sprang out. "Here you go" he said pushing one of the suitcases towards Vincent "whats this?" he asked, Mr Stepside pushed the other case towards Debbie "this Mr Grant is all the clothes and personal effects your parents sent" he said. After fetching two carts and loading their suitcases on them they heading onto the platform, passing the other platforms Mr Stepside lead them straight towards platform nine and ten hurrying past the other people Vincent and Debbie slowed to a stop as they arrived at the platform "which train are we getting on?" asked Vincent as he checked the time tables, half expecting to see Hogwarts as a final destination.

"Neither follow me" Mr Stepside said hurrying up the platform not stopping to make sure the other two were following him, quickly following Mr Stepside the two children watched as he pushed past a large group of people and disappeared from sight.

Confused Vincent and Debbie stopped in their tracks, looking around Mr Stepside could not be seen anywhere, looking back at Debbie he saw that her confusion matched his, had he abandoned them? maybe this was all a really sick trick. Just when he was about to give up M Stepsides head suddenly appeared protruding out of a wall "come on then you two or you'll miss the train, the head then disappeared back into the wall.

Walking up to the wall Vincent extended his arm and placed his hand against the bricks, his hand passed through the bricks, pulling his hand back Vincent grabbed his cart and slowly pushed it into the wall. Coming out on the other side Vincent quickly checked his body to make sure all of him had passed through, a sudden jolt from behind him pushed him forward and press him into his cart. Looking behind him Vincent saw half of Debbie cart come through the wall, grabbing the front end of the her cart Vincent pulled her through the wall, Debbie gave a large yelp when she emerged on the other side "what the hell?" he asked letting go of her cart. Debbie coward slightly at Vincents harsh tone "sorry" she said looking pitifully away from him avoiding eye contact "i didn't realise, im sorry", Vincent gave her a hateful stare before tuning his back on her. Turning around Vincents mind went blank, in front of him was a stunning red steam train, polished to perfection the red paint shined in the sunlight, on the front of the train was the sign that read the Hogwarts Express. "Come on come on" said Mr Stepside ushering them thorough up the platform "i think that was the longest it ever taken for someone to take three simple steps through a wall". Vincent rushed down the platform not wanting to lose track of Mr Stepside again, they rushed past different groups of students and their families, passing by Vincent noticed the different coloured robes that the older students were wearing. Gradually the diversity of colour dwindled until the students around them all wore grey first year robe the same as him.

"Right" said Mr Stepside stopping suddenly almost causing Vincent to run into him "leave your carts here ill make sure they get onto the train" he said taking the cart handles "so this is goodbye". "You're not coming with us" Debbie asked her voice barely going above a squeak "nope this is where we part ways you're the schools problem now" he joke ruffing up her hair "it was nice meeting you two hopefully i'll see you guys again". After shaking Vincent's hand Mr Stepside opened the door to the carriage and helped the two up and through the door "are you sure you can't come with us" Debbie asked shifting her weight nervously "no ive got other school business to attend to", seeing the look of disappointment on Debbie's face Vincent rolled his eyes, why the hell was she being such a wuss he thought as he pushed past her and walked up the carriage looking for an empty compartment leaving Mr Stepside to comfort Debbie. "don't worry" he said "its not bad at all, hell next year you won't be able to get on this train quick enough" ruffling her hair again Debbie giggled slightly "besides you're already a step ahead of most of these kids you already have a friend on board Vincent will look out for you". Debbies giggle quickly faded "i don't think thats true he kind of scares me" Mr Stepside looked at her slightly concerned now "well he's a bit short but don't worry he'l soften up once you get to know him and if not there are plenty of other kids here that would be lucky to have you as a friend".

Vincent continued down the carriage with no luck most of the compartment were either full or had people who Vincent did not want to be seen socialising with finally he struck gold finding an empty compartment. Kicking his duffle bag under his seat Vincent slumped into his seat putting up his feet on the seat opposite stretching out, looking out the window he could still see plenty of people waving goodbye to loved ones and even a few late arrivals hurrying onto the train. Waiting for the train to move off Vincent pulled open his duffle bag a pulled out a book and his wand case, opening the case he picked up the wand, still unnaturally cold to the touch. Flicking through the book he looked for an interesting spell he could try to relieve the boredom eventually he came across a spell for making small rain clouds, this wasn't what caught his eye at the bottom of the page was a few words which had drew this attention. It read "hate someone? tell them to EAT SLUGS" and then there was a small drawing of a stick figure throwing up. Vincent chuckled to himself someone must have drawn in this book before it was sold either that or Mr Stepside bought it second hand. Flicking back through the pages he stopped at another page this spell was for levitation, putting the book on the seat opposite he brought up his wand "Wingardium Leviosa", nothing happen, Vincent huffed slightly and tried again "Wingardium Leviosa" this time the booked shuffled slightly in the seat slowly lifting his wand the book followed suit slowly lifting off the chair and into the air.

Smiling Vincent slowly moved the book around the compartment, a loud whistle sounded from the front of the train breaking Vincent's concentration and with the sudden jolt of the train moving off the book fell to the floor.

Getting out of his seat Vincent picked up the book and started to flick through it again, maybe there was one which would turn the book into a rabbit, Vincent quickly dismissed that idea since he wouldn't be able to read the reversal spell if the book was hopping around the compartment.

A loud scream brought Vincents attention out of the book, opening the compartment door he heard raised voices and what sounded like a fight, following the noise Vincent came to the part of the train he had originally boarded and saw a small group of three people crowding a smaller fourth person. His curiosity rose as he waked up to the group and began to hear what was being said "poor little muggle born idiot" said one of the smaller ones "go on cry you little moron" said the tallest one pushing the victim hard into the wall behind her. When the victim hit the wall she let out a distinct wail, Vincent sighed it was Debbie he should have guessed, taking a step towards them Vincent stopped, i think i'll let her stew for a few more minutes a bit of payback for ramming into me earlier.

"Why on earth are you even here?" said the third one shoving Debbie harder "answer me" Debbie mumbled something "what was that? are you to stupid speak clearly?" said the taller one inciting laughter from the other two. "do you know what a Curcio feels like" said the third one her face inches away from Debbies "its not an unforgivable curse for nothing it'll make you want to kill yourself more than your pathetic life does".

The sheer terror on Debbie face was making hard for Vincent to stop himself from laughing, but his fun was quickly over when Debbie finally noticed that he was there. The pleading look in her eye's was truly pathetic, groaning internally Vincent pulled out his wand, i am definitely going to regret getting involved he thought. "Hey tall dark and bitchy" Vincent shouted all three of the bullys turned around, the colours on their robes distinguishing them as older students "what do you want first year?" the tall one asked venom in her voice, "let the girl go" he said reluctantly. The tall girl, obviously the leader by how the other two acted, straightened her blue lined robes and stepped closer to where Vincent was standing "why should i?" the tone in her voice condescending and arrogant. Without another word Vincent shot up his wand pointing at the tall girl "EAT SLUGS" he shouted as a bright green stream of magic sprang out of the tip of his wand and hit the tall girl blowing her backwards. The other two girls screamed loudly rushing to their friends aid "Wendy are you alright?" the said almost simultaneously, Wendy tried to speak but quickly stopped as her cheeks swelled up until she couldn't contain it and mouth full of brown slugs fell onto her lap. The girls friends screamed again, Vincent bent down so that he could look Wendy in the eye "i did ask nicely" he said, putting his wand back in his pocket he looked up at a shocked and confused Debbie. Looking at her Vincent could tell she was weighing up her options, should she go with Vincent or stay here, both options obviously scared her.

Not waiting for her to decide Vincent turned and headed back to his compartment the crowd which had gathered behind him quickly parted to allow him through. Half way back to his compartment Vincent heard hurried footsteps as Debbie ran to join him "it's probably best you don't go near them again" he said not turning to talk to her directly "they'll probably come after me" she said "they always do". Pity began to form in Vincent the same as you would have for a rabbit caught in a snare, he stopped and turned to face her, this startled Debbie who took a step back, she was still unsure of him "well then stick close and if they do i'll deal with it" he said reluctantly.

When they reached his compartment Vincent pulled open the door and returned to his seat, picking up his book Vincent continued to flick through the spell book as he had been doing before. Debbie looked around the compartment and sat down opposite him Vincent looked up from his book "where are your bags?" he asked having noticed that her bags were nowhere in sight "i left them in another compartment" she said quietly "the one i was in before they showed up" Vincent put down the book "wait that was all over a compartment?" he asked. Debbie nodded "why didnt you just give it to them?" Vincent asked, Debbie look toward the door sadly "i did" she said "but they wouldn't let me get my stuff they just chucked me into the corridor and..." she stopped there not really needing to go on.

Vincent sighed loudly, most baby's aren't this demanding he thought its like shes a puppy or something. "What number Compartment?" he asked Debbie stared at him blankly "Debbie what number?" he said slightly irritated at having to repeat himself "21b" she said meekly. "Wait here" he ordered "i'll be right back".

Walking back to the scene he saw the trio still huddled on the floor now in a puddle on slugs, stepping past them he ignored the little threats Wendy managed to get out through the waves of slugs. Stepping into the compartment Vincent easily spotted Debbie bag, grabbing it he also noticed another open bag in the compartment that must have belonged to one of the trio. Sitting in plan view was a little purse, Looking around to make sure he could be seen Vincent opened the purse and took out four of the golden coins inside, Think of it as compensation he thought. Heading back to the compartment Vincent dragged Debbies bag, Vincent opened the door and pushed the bag under the seats to join his Duffle bag.

"Thanks" said Debbie her voice lighter now, happier, Vincent returned to his seat picking up the spell book again, the sound of a sipper brought his attention up from the pages of his book, he saw Debbie open her bag and bring out a nearly identical book.

"Have.." squeaked Debbie "have you tried any of these?" she asked, Vincent closed his book "yeah have you?" he asked, Debbie shook her head looking down guiltily at her book "i was too scared, i didn't want to summon a demon or anything". Vincent chuckled at the idea, withe Debbies focus still on the book in front of her Vincent brought out his wand "Wingardium Leviosa" he whispered as he cast the spell on the book in her hand. Debbie gasped as the book began to shake, she dropped the book but Vincent held it in place using the spell and rose it into the air "wow" she exclaimed seeing that it was Vincent controlling the book. Slowly Vincent brought the book back down until it was back in Debbie's hand before breaking the spell "that was so cool" said Debbie "which one was that?" Vincent got up taking the book from her he flipped through the pages until he came to the right page and handed back the book.

They spent the next hour like that, Debbie struggled with the spell at first but soon she got the hang of it, making two paper airplanes they used the spell sending them flying through the air, a knock came from the compartment door. A wrinkled old woman slid the door open "anything from the trolley dears?" she asked indicating to the large sweet filled trolley behind her, shyly Debbie shook her head Vincent walked over to the trolley and looked over contents "what will this get me?" he asked holding up the golden coins he had taken from Debbie's bullys. "Four things from the top shelf dear" the woman said taking the money "i'd recommend the chocolate wand a chocolate frog and a couple boxes of bertie botts" said another student looking through the trolley, Vincent accepted the advice and took the sweets back into his compartment. Putting his sweets on the seat Vincent opened one box of bertie botts handing it to Debbie before he ripped open the chocolate wand box "you two better get changed into your robes" said the sweet trolley woman "we'll be arriving soon".

Vincent ignored her as he finished his chocolate wand and looked for a way to open the chocolate frog box "eww" exclaimed Debbie spitting out one of her beans "what?" asked Vincent annoyance obvious in his voice "that one tasted like sprouts". Vincent reached over and pick up one of the beans, popping it in his mouth, "tastes like tea" he said screwing up his face in confusion. Picking up his box he read the writing on the side "guess they really mean every flavour" he said putting the box down before returning to his chocolate frog box.


	4. Nice Hat

Once they had changed into their school robes Vincent and Debbie spent the rest of the train journey finding interesting spells in their books and practicing them. Vincent managed to get a couple pretty much down where as Debbie only managed to get one working, the levitation charm they used on the paper aeroplanes. Picking up their bags and getting off the train Vincent noticed a depressed look in Debbie's eyes, "what is it?" he asked reluctantly, Debbie looked down ashamed "oh nothing" she said trying to dismiss him. Annoyed at her attempt Vincent stopped walking along the platform "i asked you a question don't lie to me" he said, Debbie stopped next to him and mumbled something "what?" Vincent asked again "i'm no good at magic" she said only slightly clearer. "You're okay" Vincent said "but not as good as you" she said, Vincent adjusted the strap of his bag and sighed "neither of us ever tried a spell before an hour ago" he said "you can't expect to be Da Vinci the first time you pick up a brush". With that Vincent continued down the platform and headed toward the stairs everyone was heading down, Debbie quickly ran to catch up to him just as he rejoined the group. Strangely enough Vincent wasn't surprised to see a giant of a man with a beard as big as he was leading the group, after the spells, the walking through wall and the levitating of his headmasters desk this seemed to be the least weird thing Vincent had seen all week. "First years follow me" the giant bellowed "leave your bag's here" he finished as he walked away from the train station and down a cobblestone path, following the giant down the road the group eventually came gigantic lake with a large pier protruding which had a fleet of row boats tied to it.

"Right get in you lot" the giant said as he jumped in the boat at the tip of the pier, a few questioning look passed around the crowd before a blonde girl at the front climbed into the boat next to giant. Everyone soon followed suit, clambering into the boat there was a few people jostling at the back knocking one boy into the water, the giant climbed out of his boat and marched down the pier, the boards creaking with each step.

"What happened here then?" he asked as he lifted the boy out of the water and held the dripp mass of robes by one hand "i fell in" said the boy as the two others in his boat sniggered. "well cut it out i have enough to deal with dragging that second year along" he said gesturing towards Wendy who was in the front boat still groaning with a slug or two on her lap "now cut it out" with that he dropped the boy into the boat and headed back to his own. Tapping the side of the boat the entire fleet untied themselves from the pier and began to sail across the lake towards a grand castle on the otherside.

Getting out of the boats they stepped onto a grand stone pier which connected to a large staircase which wound up towards a big old fashioned door, going through that door the group was met by another larger door "wait here ill just go get mrs McGonagall" the giant said before he disappeared. Vincent frowned, where had he heard that name before?, he quickly shrugged off the thought as he looked around at the people he would be spending the rest of the year with. Of course there was Debbie who was close behind him nervously looking around them at the painting on the walls, he also saw the boy who fell in earlier still drenched, next to him were two boys who look like opposites of each other. One had short snow white hair and pale sickly skin who towered over the rest of the group, he was talking to his opposite a short tanned boy whose long pitch black hair covered half of his face. On the other side of the group was a very giggly girl with tied up curly hair who seemed to find everything the tallish blonde girl opposite her said hilarious. After a few minutes standing there a woman appeared she had long black robes which flowed behind her, and her serious face was decorated by crescent shaped glasses "gather around children gather around" she said as she stood in front of the large double doors. "in a few second you will pass through these doors and enter the Grand hall" she said with a cheerful flourish "there you will be sorted into one of four houses Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor or Slytherin and i expect you to all be on your best behaviour as the entire school will be watching. Vincent chuckled at a couple of very audible gulps at the teachers announcement "come one now" the teacher said as she approached the doors, giving the group one last check she pushed open the doors and lead them into the Grand hall.

The Grand hall certainly matched its name, four long tables equipped with long benches stretched down the hall each tabled had empty silverware scattered on top and it benches were covered in students, table table had a different colour banner hanging above it. As Vincents gaze rose above the banners he noticed the roof, or rather absence of roof, the night sky was clear above them it was only obscured by floating candles. As they reached the end of the hall Vincent noticed a fifth table which had older people seated around it with a old bearded man sitting a throne at the center of the table. What caught a lot of their attention was infront of that table, sat on a tall stool was an old patchy hat, Mrs McGonagall stood next to this stool and brought out a roll of parchment. "When i call of your name step forward and take a seat and then you will be placed into your house" unrolling the parchment McGonagall adjusted her glasses "Jason Avada" she called out. The tall blond boy Vincent noticed earlier stepped forward and sat on the tool, awkwardly looking back at the entire school he looked over at McGonagall as she placed the old hat on his head.

The entire hall fell into silence, gradually the hat began to move, creases began to form in the side of the hat and these creases began to form into a face, "ahh sorting time again" the hat sang as it seemed to stretch out if it was even possible for a hat to do that. "now who do we have hmmm Avada i remember your father you'll be following in his footsteps i think, Slytherin" the hat announced invoking loud raucous cheering from the far right table as Jason joined them. "Luke Avada" McGonagall called out, the tan boy Jason had been with stepped up to the stool, once the hat was placed on his head the hat spoje immediately "i wonder why they bother calling upon my expertise sometimes it just obvious you'll join your brother, Slytherin". Another round of loud cheering came from the Slytherin table as Luke sat next to his brother, "June Bear" McGonagall called, the cheery curly haired girl skipped up to the stool, once the hat was sat on her head it began to grumble to itself "i can't make heads or tails of this!" the hat complained. "Hufflepuff" the hat shouted causing another round of cheering from the middle left table, "Matt Farrow" McGonagall, up stepped soaking wet boy "eww get the boy a towel" the hat cried once he was put on his head "Ravenclaw" it cried, there was a mixed reaction from the middle right table as the boy came over. Obviously not everyone wanted this half fish boy at their table.

"Vincent Grant" McGonagall called out, brushing down his robes Vincent stepped forward, "he heard Debbie whisper "good luck" as he approached the stool, as the hat was placed on his head Vincent felt a slight pressure in his head. "what the hell is that?" he thought and almost fell off his chair when he received an answer "how strange" the voice said "you're resisting me would you please relax so i can begin". Vincent looked around at the unchanging faces around him, nobody can hear this, "no why should i let you in my head" Vincent thought back "so i can sort you boy" he heard the voice say "well i'm not letting you in my head". A light chuckle came from the voice "very well" and with that the pressure faded "Slytherin" cried the hat.

Jumping down from the chair Vincent joined the Avada brothers at the ecstatic Slytherin table, taking his seat next to the brothers an older boy joined him "it good to have you here" he said extending a hand "im Mike Young" Vincent shook the Mike's hand. "I heard what you did to that stuck up bitch Wendy on the train, not to bad for a first year" there were nods of approval from the other students at the table "especially one who's never had a lesson". "Don't worry about the teachers" said a small sweet looking black haired girl opposite him "Wendy knows better than to talk" Vincent heard a small crack as the small girls hand folded into a fist.

"Debbie Starling" called McGonagall bringing Vincents attention back to the sorting hat, Debbie walked cautiously over to the stool and climbed on to it, her anxiety was bad in usual situations right now it must have been unbearable and it showed on her face. Debbie just barely managed to hold in a scream when the sorting hat was placed on her head, causing the entire Slytherin table to snigger "two galleons says shes a Hufflepuff" said the small girl, Mike snorted "way to obvious". Sure enough after a few minutes of silence the sorting hat shouted out "Hufflepuff" and Debbie joined the yellow table, but not before looking sadly over at Vincent disappointed that she would not be with her only friend, but it was for the best Vincent thought, she wouldn't fit in with these people, these were his kind of people.

McGonagall carried on calling out first year names but Vincent had lost interest instead he talked to the Nancy the small girl opposite him and Mike. The two quickly filled him in on rivalries and the house point system "its mainly just an excuse to try and make us work harder" said Mike who was not a fan of being punished because someone else can't cover their tracks well enough. "Yeah but on the bright side it another way for us to put those pompous Gryffindors there place" said Nancy a mischievous gleam creeping into her deceptively sweet face.

They were brought out of their conversation when the entire hall fell silent, looking around for a reason for the quiet Vincent saw the old man in the throne was now standing and appeared to be giving a speech. "Welcome students to yet another year here at Hogwarts, for you first years who do not know me i am Albus Dumbledore your headmaster" the old man said beaming with pride "as the older students will know i have a few rules i must state the importance of, first of all student are not aloud out of their dorms after nine o'clock any students found will be punished". A fairly obvious rule Vincent thought but if the rest of the school was half as amazing as the small part he had seen Vincent could understand a need to explore. "secondly" the headmaster continued "the woods around the grounds are out of bounds and any students who trespass will most likely meet a horrible death" Vincent chuckled thinking it was some kind of joke on the new students but a few looks from the older years soon told him differently. "thirdly students are to be punctual and polite not really a rule but a simple request, now" the head clapped loudly, suddenly the empty silverware in front of them was filled to the brim with the most delicious looking food Vincent had seen in his life "lets eat".

Filling his plate Vincent quickly tucked i to what seemed like every food he had ever craved, there was chicken legs, burgers of every kind, roast potatoes and battered haddock his favorite. Everyones plate seemed to be filled with different things whatever they liked or wanted, grabbing a chalice in front of him Vincent drained the water to help wash down the meal. "Whats your favorite thing to drink" Nancy asked Vincent shrugged at the strange question "cola probably" he answered shoving another fork full of fish into his mouth, Nancy brought out her wand and tapped his chalice. Instantly the chalice filled itself this time with the distinct black colour of Coca Cola "cheers" Vincent said amazed before taking a large gulp from the drink.

Everyone eat until they were ready to burst and once they were gone the remains vanished leaving the silverware spotless, so clean Vincent could see his reflection in his plate what now?" Vincent asked as he saw people start to drift out of the hall "we second years have a hour free for whatever we want" said Mike as he and Nancy got out of their seats "FIRST YEARS OVER HERE" shouted a smug looking fat boy at the end of the table "good luck" said Nancy "Terrys a bit of a prick" and with that she and Mike disappeared leaving Vincent alone with the Avada brothers and a few other Slytherin first years. "So what do think think happens now?" Vincent asked as they walked other to the shouting boy "probably some kind of initiation" said Jason "our older brother was a Slytherin but he wouldn't tell us anything" Luke grunted in agreement. "Right first years i'm Terence im the Slytherin prefect and as long as you do what i say i'll be taking you to the common room" Terry said as he surveyed the new students "and if we don't" said a new student, a smug looking shaved head kid.

Terry looked at the boy and slowly approached him until they were close enough to smell each other's breath "if you don't i'll take you so far into the dungeons that the sun will become a distant memory and then i'll leave you there" Terry finished with a smile which made the shaved boy audible gulp, Vincent was impressed.

"now that question and answer is over come on" without another word Terry turned and left the hall quickly the first years followed. Terry lead them towards a door which opened to a spiraling staircase which went down deep into the castle's depths. At the bottom of the staircase the hall split off in two directions Terry stopped them at the junction, "Death and Glory" he said and with that there was a loud crunch noise. The bricks in front of them began to disappear, the sight reminded Vincent on the entrance to Diagon Alley, the bricks fell away to reveal a golden rimmed arch way and a pitch black brick hallway "that was the password for this year, this keeps the other houses out, remember it" he ordered.

The common room was amazing, the walls and floors were made of shiny black bricks with golden pillars reaching from the floor to the ceiling, a golden fire place was against one wall with a green flame burning brightly in the center. Dark green golden rimmed furniture sat close to the flame and tall black book shelves stood against the walls filled with books of a darker nature. "This is the common room you're free to spend as much time here as you like all books are at your leisure as long as they don't leave through that door" Terry said pointing at the way they had just came, " down that hall you'll find the dorm rooms boys on the left girls on the right needless to say that there isn't supposed to be any mingling" this caused a few childish giggles. "The rest of the day is yours, be back in here by nine and be down here by nine tomorrow for your classes" when he was finished he pushed past the first years and left them there. "What now?" Jason asked looking around them, Vincent and Luke shrugged "lets go check out our rooms" Vincent said, Luke and Jason nodded in agreement. Going down the hall and heading down the left, going down the hall they past and number of black wooden doors, each door hand the owners name on a golden plate they went down the hall until the names became familiar. "Theres yours" Vincent said pointing to a door with Jasons name on it "looks like your bunking with Neil West" Jason cursed under his breath "damn thats the annoying skin head" Vincent and Luke chuckled loudly, Jason swatted his brothers head and angrily opened his door and disappeared inside. Luke rubbed the back of his head still laughing, they continued down the hall and two doors down they found their room, "we're roomies" Vincent said entering the room, the same black brick floor and walls continued into the room the room was decorated with two beds, two desks and two wardrobes. "Hope you don't snore" joked Vincent jumping onto the left bed as Luke checked out his wardrobe, the wardrobe was already filled with clothes "those your's" Vincent asked, Luke nodded taking off his long robe and hanging it with the rest off his clothes. Checking out his own wardrobe Vincent found it was filled with the clothes he had packed, a bit creepy someone went through his stuff.

A knock came from the door before they could get it the door opened to reveal Mike "how'd you like the rooms?" he asked entering the room and perching himself on Vincents desk "there all right" Vincent said shrugging. "yeah they used to be worse, the other houses still have group rooms it like five six people per room, Snape our head of house worked some magic and got us these" Vincent got up from his bed "Nice, we got two hour til curfew anything interesting to do?" he asked.

Mike smiled "well me and Nancy were going to hang out on the ground wanna come?" Vincent took off his robe and rolled up his shelves "i wouldn't want to third wheel" he joked, Mike shook his head "don't get me wrong Nancys nice but a bit to.." mike searched for the right word "intense" he finished snapping his finger at the answer "for me". Vincent grinned and walked into the hall "lets go then".


	5. Flight On The First Day

Mike lead him back to the surface and out the front entrance to where Nancy was waiting "you came" she said excitedly jumping up from the bench on which she was sitting "of course he did" Mike said as they walked over "so what are we doing out here?" Vincent asked. Nancy gestured over her shoulder to a group of Ravenclaws on the other side of the court yard "see them?" she asked Vincent nodded "to make a bit of extra money i use my exceptional potions skills to make and sell whatever anyone asks for" she explained. "But Lulu over there" Mike picked up pointing to a frankly ugly looking girl at the center of the group "she forgot to pay for an industrial strength love potion, which in my opinion still was not strong enough" they all laughed, the sound attracted the Ravenclaws attention. Lulu face went pale, the panic i her eye made Vincent want to smile evilly, "so we are going to have a little chat with Lulu and come to a mutually beneficial arrangement" Nancy said, with that they stalked over to the group like a pack of wolves closing on a cornered herd of deer. "Hello Lulu" Nancy shouted as the other people in the group turned pale "i haven't seen you in ages how you been?" she asked, the group began to disband the smaller members disappearing back into the castle. Lulu mumbled something like "fine" as more of the group disappeared "didn't i hear you were going out with that Gryffindor boy Kaleb?" Nancy asked putting an arm around Lulu shoulder playfully, the Ravenclaws had completely abandoned her, Lulu was cornered and alone. "Now why don't we go for a nice walk" Mike asked as they lead the girl away from the castle, they headed down the steps all the way to the boat house, away from prying eyes.

Pushing the girl inside Vincent closed the door, there were no lights in the boathouse the only source of light was the sun coming in from the entrance that opened onto the water "now Lulu" said Nancy "i thought you Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart did you really think we would let it go?", Lulu cowered into one of the corners "how much does she owe us Mike?". Mike brought out a black note book and began flicking through it "here we are, Lulu, one Cupids Crystal love potion cost 25 galleons" Mike read aloud before flipping the book shut and shoving it back into his pocket. "Vincent guess how much Lulu here has paid us for our services?" Nancy asked, Vincent stepped closer to where Nancy had Lulu cornered, this had the added effect of making him hard to see with the sun behind them, "not a penny" he said crossing his arms. "Thats right" Nancy said, Lulu started to blub "please ive got it, it's in my room i'll get it to you tomorrow" Nancy held up her hand silencing her instantly "now i've got to say im little insulted, i'm a professional business woman and the way you've chosen to conduct yourself is very unprofessional".

There were more blub's and pleds from the girl "now i don't want to hurt you i can get so messy" Nancy said, Vincent saw Lulu instantly began to relax "but my friend Vincent here" Nancy continued putting a hand on his shoulder "he likes messy", panic quickly returned. The pleading look in her eyes reminded him of Debbie, "don't you Vincent" asked Nancy, instead of answering Vincent stepped forward so she could feel his words on her face "we're not talking physical messy here Lulu" he said in a low whisper like voice "how do you think people would react if they knew you used this stuff" he asked rhetorically. "Your new boy friend, your mates back there, what about the entire school" Lulu practically stank of fear "now if thats not bad enough we could tell them about other things you bought", confusion spread across Lulus face "i didn't buy anything else" she said. "Yeah but who would believe that Love potion Lulu wouldn't use other potion's, not everyone would believe it true but enough people will for your name to be mud" he turned back to the others, Mike and Nancy had a expression on their faces a mix of being surprised and impressed.

Lulu dug into the pockets of her robe and handed Nancy a purse "is this all of it?" she asked Lulu looked at the floor and shook her head "well we're in a generous mood today we're back at school seeing all our friends, sharing Summer stories so we'll give you until this time tomorrow to have the rest". Lulu nodded again, "you may leave" said Mike opening the boathouse door, Lulu quickly darted out the door and dashed up the stairs, if she were a cartoon she would have left a smoke outline in her place.

Nancy clapped slowly "i am impressed Vincent", Vincent shrugged "what can i say i don't like Ravenclaws" Nancy opened Lulu's purse and took out five galleons "theres your cut" she said handing the money over "i think you earned it wouldn't you say Mike" Mike nodded in agreement.

Leaving the boathouse they headed back to the common room "its best to be back into the dungeon early the Bloody Baron likes to haze whos ever late" Mike warned as they entered the common room. "Bloody Baron?" Vincent asked puzzled "he's the house ghost" Mike explained "we don't see him that often he's usually chasing the other ghosts around the castle, but its best not to chance it". "I'll see you later" said Mike "ive got prep for tomorrow's potion lesson i've been putting off", Looking around the room Vincent spotted the Avada brothers sat in two chairs nearest to the fire and walked over to them "hey Vincent" said Jason quickly followed by Lukes grunt hello "heard you and Luke are room mates" Vincent nodded "yeah should be fun" Jason snorted "he snores" he warned. "How's your roommate?" Vincent retorted easily hitting a sore spot "i don't know i've put off having to actually meet the prick" Jason said quickly looking around to make sure his roommate wasn't around to hear him.

After an hour the trio noticed people begin to retire to their rooms, there were no clocks in the common room so they assumed it was time for bed.

The next day Vincent awoke to find he was being shaken awake by Luke "WHAT?" Vincent moaned rubbing sleep out of his eyes, Luke pointed to a clock on his desk, "oh right time to get up, cheers" said Vincent. Dragging himself out of bed, Vincent quickly threw on some clean robes, grabbing his books and shoving his cold wand into his pocket they left the room and went into the common room. The common room was full of first years talking amongst themselves, Vincent quickly found Jason sitting on a chair by the fire absentmindedly flicking through one of his books. "Hey guys" he greeted them "i was just about to come get you we're leaving any minute now" as if on cue a loud voice shout from the entrance "first year?", as the group turned toward the voice they saw a tall man. The man wore long black robes and his face was framed by longish black hair "i am Professor Snape" said the man "i am the head of Slytherin, it my job to look after you" Snape looked each student in the eye to make sure he had their complete attention "when i call your name step forward take your schedule and map then hurry along your way. One by one they received their schedules and quickly rushed to their first lessons, unlucky the three of them didn't have their first lessons together until second period, bidding goodbye they all went their separate ways.

Vincent's first lesson was simply titled Flying Lessons on his schedule, what kind of flying they would be learning didn't matter to Vincent every since that day when he fell off the school roof he had be fascinated with flying.

Following the direction on his schedule Vincent arrived in a large green outside the castle walls, he thought he was lost for the first minutes but he soon spotted two lines of brooms lying on the ground with a disgruntled looking woman standing by them. Vincent approached the woman "FINALLY" she shouted "you'd think it was on the moon with the difficulty you first years have in finding this place" Vincent looked behind him and couldn't see another soul "so this is the Flying lessons?" he asked dropping his books by one of the brooms. "Of course it is boy do you not see the brooms before you" the woman said waving madly at the lines of brooms "where are your classmates?" Vincent shrugged.

The woman sighed loudly "i bet there on the other side of the grounds, oh well lets just start im sure they'll begin to show up soon and if we spot any from the air we'll give them a point in the right direction" the woman was smiling now as she stepped forward and shook Vincents hand. "I am Madam Hooch your flying teacher" the woman said introducing herself "which of my students are you" she asked "i'm Vincent Grant" he said as Madam Hooch picked up two brooms from the ground before handing him one. "Well Mister Grant, lets begin", Madam Hooch put the broom between her legs a effortlessly kicked off shooting into the air, copying Madam Hooch's movements Vincent put the broom between his legs and kicked off.

Vincent began to wobbly list into the air, "good Mister Grant" said Madam Hooch as she flew back down to where he was floating "but you were meant to wait on the ground until i came back" together they floated down the the ground. "Theres a group on first years heading in this direction, they should be here soon" she said, walking over to Vincent she corrected his grip and his position "right try again" she instructed, gripping the handle tightly Vincent kicked off again this time he rose into the air steadily, with move controller he leaned closer to the broom sending him forwards.

As the other's arrived they began to slowly get the hang on the brooms, by the end of the lesson they all managed to stay on their brooms which was a huge improvement as during the lesson they all must have fallen of five times.

While Vincent managed to improve his control he couldn't get a feel for using a broom, the way he had to move, the feeling of the broom beneath him. It felt wrong completely to when he flew off of the roof, it felt like there was an easier more natural way to fly.

After the lesson was finished Vincent headed over to his second lesson Potions class, venturing back into the depths of the castle. Finding the class was alot easier than finding the flight class, Vincent could smell the room before he saw it, the smell of various concoctions and ingredients drifted through the air. Finding the right room Vincent entered, thankfully there was only a few student there all reading and the teacher was nowhere in sight, looking around for a good seat he noticed a familiar face. Sitting alone at the front of the class was the sad face of Debbie, "Vincent" she said over enthusiastically before patting the chair next to her. Taking the seat Vincent put his books on the table and leaned back in his chair "so hows Slytherin?" she asked "it pretty good, quite fancy but at least ive got a good roommate" he said as he rocked back and forth in his chair. "Hufflepuff is great, everyone's really friendly" Debbie said eager to share, Vincent nodded "so you're making lots of friends?" he asked, but judging by how she relived she was when she saw him he could make a pretty good guess.

"They're nice but no not really" Debbie admitted "everyones friends with everyone so its hard to have any real conversations or make any real connections" Vincent nodded again.

"I made a few new friends" he said half gloating "you remember the Avada brothers from the sorting, ones my roommate so us three have been hanging out" Debbie's face saddened again as a fear of abandonment set in.

Despite how annoying she could be Vincent liked Debbie, she was predictable and easily manipulated but it was nice to have someone who liked him and would be loyal. And besides she could be funny. "Been practicing any spells?" he asked, Debbie nodded "i tried that spell for bringing stuff to you Aceo, but it barely moved my pen" Vincent continued to rock on his chair "well if you want i could help you during our lunch hour, we could practise together" he volunteered.

Debbie face lite up "yeah that would be great" she said beaming, she was going to say something else when she was interrupted by Luke Avada who sat down next to Vincent "hey Luke" he said, Luke grunted hello before he noticed Debbie. Luke sat in his usual silence as he Studied Debbie "Debbie this is my roommate Luke Avada" Vincent said gesturing to Luke "Luke this is Debbie she's a friend of mine" reaching across the Vincent Debbie offered to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you" she said trying to give Luke a friendly smile, Luke cautiously took her hand and shook it gently as if he would break her hand if he wasn't careful.

They talked for a few more minutes before Snape made his dramatic entrance. The door to the class burst open and Snape strode into the class, walking to the front of the class he spun around "welcome to potion's class" he greeted as he surveyed his class " do not dismiss this lesson because there s no wands or brooms or pixi's in the class. well at least no whole ones" he joked causing the Slytherins to giggle amongst themselves. "In this lesson i will teach you the art of potion making, through potions a wizard can brew love and obsession, ensnare the minds and bodies of man and even unlock immortality", this speech caught everyones attention. Snape smiled confident he had there complete undivided attention "let us begin"


	6. Bird Of A Different Feather

Vincent found Potions class a lot easier than broom flying, it was simple all they had to do was follow the instructions in the book and take note of the different techniques Snape told them about how to get the most out of their ingredients. But the lesson quickly finished, excited for break Vincent picked his books so he'd be ready to leave the moment Snape dismissed them, Snape didn't get the chance.

A gentle knocking turned the whole classes heads to the door where Professor McGonagall was stood, Snape strode over to her his face showing the annoyance of his class being disturbed. The class fell silent as they all strained to hear the hushed words of the teachers, "Mr Grant" Snape called out causing the whole class to jump, Luke and Debbie's eyes quickly snap to Vincent, he shrugged and got to his feet "yes sir?" he asked.

"You are to go with Professor McGonagall" Snape ordered "well hurry boy you're holding up my class" he snapped, quickly Vincent grabbed his book and hurried out the door not wanting to upset his head of house on his first day. McGonagall wordlessly lead Vincent down a number of hall ways and up a couple of staircases until she opened a small door revealing a cozy looking office, dominated by a desk and two book shelves the only current source of light in the room was a small head shaped window facing the broom practice field below.

"Please take a seat Mr Grant" McGonagall said as she sat down at the desk, Vincent sat on the only seat in the room a yellow old fashioned chair "Professor McGonagall why am i here?" Vincent asked, slightly concerned it would be about the slug incident on the train. "i have brought you here Mr Grant because i have received a letter from one of our Collectors Mr Stepside concerning a conversation you had with him" McGonagall answered, Vincent tried to think back still confused, had he inadvertently said something offensive or threatening? he didn't think so. "I still don't understand" Vincent said, McGonagall nodded and leaned back in her chair "according to Mr Stepside you told him that you have flown without the assistance of a broom or a muggle contraption is this true?" she asked. Concern grew was this some kind of crime in the wizarding world.

"Yes when i was pushed off the roof of my old boarding school" Vincent answered, McGonagall nodded again thinking over his words "would you please describe the events to me?" she requested. Vincent told her the story from the fight to when he landed in the tree in as much detail as he could manage hoping it would lessen whatever punishment was heading his way. McGonagall listened to every word before she sat in silence as she made her assessment, Vincent became painfully aware of the ticking of a old clock on one of the book shelfs. "Mr Stepside also mentioned you had issues with feathers?" Vincent nodded as he became even more confused if that was even possible, were feathers a wizard taboo?, "Why?" he asked.

"This is amazing" McGonagall said to herself thinking carefully for a minute she seemed to forget about Vincents presence altogether, McGonagall's eyes quickly snapped back to Vincent as she came out of her head and back down to earth. "Tell me Vincent do you know what a Animagi is?" she asked, Vincent shook his head "Well let me explain" she continued leaning forward in her chair excitedly. "An Animagus is a wizard who can change their physical appearance into that of an animal" she explained "i am a Animagi my second form is a cat" saying that she gave him a demonstration. Her body became a blur as it shrunk into the tabby form of a cat, the only indication that it as anything other than a average moggie was the crescent moon pattern if her glasses on the fur of the cat. With another blur the teacher reappeared in the seat not looking the slightest bit fazed by the sudden transformation, "the reason i have called you here is because it sounds like you have a natural talent for transfiguration and i would like to help you explore this talent" she said. Vincent was doubtful with all the amazing things wizards could do how could turning into a bird be such a big deal. "This is a amazing opportunity, this skill usually takes a long time to even partially achieved you're already years ahead of your classmates" Vincent was stunned "so i would be able to turn into a cat? he asked, "oh no" McGonagall said "we can't choose our second form its a part of who we are and by the sound of it yours is a bird".

Vincent thought for a few seconds, "okay when do we start?" he asked, McGonagall clapped loudly with excitement "excellent we'll start immediately, get out your wand out".

They began with concentration and breathing exercises using the wand to focus the magic, but nothing happened, he tried again and still nothing happened.

Vincents frustration grew "its not working" he complained dropping his wand on the table and shrugging off his long robes. "Stay calm it will happen, most people take years to learn full body transformation" McGonagall sighed "maybe were doing this wrong" she said picking up Vincents wand, almost dropping it with surprise at the coldness of the object. Shaking her head she quickly dismissed the thought and focused back on Vincent. "These exercises help beginners but you've already fully shifted" she explained, Vincent leaned forward listening intently "i want you to think about what it felt like before you shifted, when you were in mid air and flew to the tree". Vincent sat back and slowed his breath, closing his eyes he recalled the memory, sensations sprang from his memory he remembered the sound of air rushing by, he remembered the feeling of his clothes flapping around him. A warm feeling began to grow. He remembered the feeling of gliding through the air watching as the ground passed below him, a sharp gasp from McGonagall brought Vincent out of his memories.

Looking back at McGonagall he noticed she seemed taller now and the colors and features of her face seemed sharper and more defined looking around the rest of the room he saw that the room had seemed to have grown as well "amazing with only one lesson" McGonagall said smiling widely. Looking down at his body he was shocked to find that his clothes were gone, replaced by thick black shiny feathers. Now standing on the chair Vincent looked down at his skinny bird legs as he took a step forward "it looks like your second form is a crow" McGonagall said as she moved around the desk to get a better look. Stretching out his wings Vincent flapped slightly lifting his body of off the chair, smiling internally due to a lack of teeth he flapped again. Vincent jumped onto the desk easily landing "be careful" McGonagall warned "you're not used to this body", this quickly made itself apparent as he flapped his wings again, his left wing knocked over a ink pot spilling the liquid over the probably important papers on McGonagall's desk and his right wing painful hit the arm of McGonagall's chair. The pain was like that of stubbing your toe, squawking loudly at the pain Vincent jumped back onto his chair.

"Right thats enough for now, to change back reverse the process think about yourself as you usually are" McGonagall ordered as she quickly tried to save her papers from the ink, closing his crow eyes Vincent thought about himself. He thought about how he looked, his black hair, his brown eyes, his lightly tanned skin, the warm feeling returned and spread from his chest to the tip of his beak and the end feathers of his wings. When he opened his eyes the room had returned to normal back to the fuzzy vision of human eyes, looking down at his body he saw his feathers were gone and his clothes had returned "that was awesome" Vincent exclaimed jumping out of his seat. "Lets go outside i want to try flying" Vincent said picking his wand up from the desk and shoving it in the inside pocket of his robes, "i would love to but i need to try and salvage these" McGonagall said gesturing to the ruined desk. "Come back here tomorrow after your second lesson and we'll work on a quicker transformation and maybe a bit of flying" McGonagall said, Vincent quickly thanked her before hurrying out the door.

She could wait but he wanted to fly. Now. Rushing down the stairs Vincent quickly made his way to the main entrance. Once he got to the massive doors he quickly took note of the time, he had another half hour yet before his next class more than enough time, closing his eyes Vincent thought about his transformation and sure enough the warm feeling of magic changing his body spread quickly. Opening his eyes he looked down at his body, happiness grew as he saw his glorious black feathers had returned, looking to make sure there were no students he might accidentally crash into, he spread his wing to their full length. Taking a running start, Vincent flapped his wings and lifted off of the ground, flying forward Vincent was painfully aware he was close to the ground, flapping again and pointing his beak upward he quickly soared higher into the sky. This was nothing like using a broom, the feeling of the wind running through his feathers and the sound of his own wing flapping, it felt right. Closely following his instincts Vincent flew across the campus, dodging the towers of the castle Vincent noticed a small window in the side of the buildings, flying past Vincent looked inside to see McGonagall inside scrubbing at the ink stain on her desk. Vincent chuckled at the teacher but the sound became a mangled cawing, turning away from the building he headed towards the lake. The lake was undisturbed and made a pretty good mirror as he glided over the water, looking down Vincent marveled at his avian body as his wings took him from one side of the lake to the other in bare minutes. After ten minutes of flying Vincent decided to head back, tilting downwards the ground came rushing up to met him, quickly Vincent pulled out of his dive and glided forwards back towards the entrance hall.

As he got closer to the hall his crow eyes picked out two shapes and as he got closer he realised who they were. Nancy and Mike were sitting on a bench outside the hall, slowing his pace Vincent slowly descended landing on a wall close to the two second years. Vincent was about to change back so he could talk to the older students but then he heard their conversation "Vincent did better than expected" said Nancy, hearing his name Vincent hopped closer to them "i don't know he didn't exactly go along with the plan did he?" Mike answered.

Nancy giggled loudly like her appearance its innocent exterior hid a sinister underlayer, Mike knew this and shrunk back slightly "yes but he showed us something better, that he's not a idiot henchman" she teased heavily hinting so Mike understood the insult. "There's something about him, i think he will be a valuable addition to the society" Mike jumped to his feet "now hold on he's only a week in and we don't even know his blood line that is a bad idea" Nancy said nothing instead she stood up from the bench she was sitting on and smoothed out her shirt before stepping towards Mike. She brought her face so close to Mike's Vincent was sure Nancy would be able to smell the sweat that was visibly gathering on Mike's skin, "i'm not a idiot Mike but you appear to be, since you've overstepped, it's not your place to question me" Nancy whispered her tone firm. Mike gulped loud enough for Vincent to hear from his perch, Nancy stepped back and and smiled her sweet evil smile "now come along Michael or we'll be late", with that she pushed past Mike and left the courtyard. Mike took a moment to say a silent prayer in thanks and quickly followed leaving Vincent alone on his perch, flapping down to the ground he closed his eyes and after a few minutes Vincent changed back and hurried to his class.

Luckily Vincents lesson was close to the entrance he landed at, walking into the room he saw that only half the class had arrived, he couldn't see any of his friends or a teacher so he sat down and waited for the class to start. "Hi guy" said a voice from behind him looking around Vincent saw the dozy smily face of June Bear one of the few people in his year who he remembered "I'm June" she said introducing herself as she climbed over the desk between them. "You looked a bit lonely" she said as she slouched into the seat next to Vincent, her wild curls fell in front of her eyes. Blowing them off her face June giggled slightly "what's your name?", "Vincent" he said warily extending a hand for her to shake. Staring at his hand confused for a second June tried to high five it but the result was a awkward mess, "can i ask you something?" June asked as she fiddled with one of her larger curls which had fallen back in front of her face, Vincent shrugged as he look past June hoping Debbie would show up so he could push June onto her. "Sure" he said still looking for one of his friends "if you dyed your hair green would your feathers change green as well" June asked flicking away her curle so she could try a focus on Vincent response. Vincent was speechless staring at her, his mouth agape, "What?" he asked "i was in the courtyard looking for my pen" she said showing him a bright purple quill "when you flew down and changed, which is a shame you're a pretty bird". Still speechless Vincent simple stared at her "where? i didn't see you" Vincent said finally breaking his silence, June frowned "no you said you'd answer my question so answer" wagging an accusing finger at him. Vincent shrugged and thought back to the moon shaped glasses of McGonagall and the pattern they left of her fur "i don't know i guess they'd have a greenish tint" June nodded satisfied with his answer. "Cool i'd dye mine pink there's not enough pink birds in the world" June said as serious as if she was reciting shakespeare.

Vincent began to question June further but Jason appeared through the door and came over to join them "hey Vincent" he said as he pulled out the chair on the other side of him, "who's she?" Jason asked pointing at June who seemed to be deep thought. Vincent was cut off before he got the chance to introduced June "are there any pink birds?" June said bluntly, Jason and Vincent looked at her confused "i think there are some budgies that have pink feathers" Jason offered. This seemed to satisfy June and her sunny smile returned, "Jason this is June" said Vincent making the introduction "why pink birds?" Jason asked "because if i was going to be a bird i'd want to be a pink bird" June explained "or one of the ones that have the big ears". Both boys stared at the girl "what on earth are you talking about?" they said, June white smile grew as she tried to explain "you know, they're furry have big ear and cute little sharp teeth" she said making makeshift fangs with her fingers.

"June"

"yes"

"are talking about bats?"


	7. Window Of Opportunity

After the a long explanation on why bats were different from birds the class was full with the exception of the teacher, Vincent was about to check his schedule to make sure they had the right time when door to the classroom creaked open. The entire class craned their necks to get a look at their new teacher but from where Vincent sat the doorway appeared to be empty, looking around carefully Vincent expected to see one of the ghosts pop their heads out of a desk or thing to go flying courtesy of Peeves. Instead a loud squeaking filled the room, the noise moved from the doorway and around the room stopping behind the podium at the front of the class, after a few heavy clumps a head appeared, golden rimmed glasses balanced on a large nose the head was topped by neatly combed black hair which matched his gentleman's curled mustache. Another heavy clump followed and the rest of the heads small body was revealed, "good afternoon class" the teacher said his voice barely meeting the back of the class.

"i am Professor Flitwick" the man said and with a flick of his wand the name appeared on the blackboard behind him "and this is Charms for beginners".

Unlike the other lessons none of the student would get to perform any magic in this class, "theres more to magic than absent mindedly flinging a wand a muttering alacazam" said Flitwick as he explained his reasoning "magic is an art form and must be treated as such so to begin with we will learn proper waving techniques, everyone pick up your wands". Flitwick then had each student come over to his podium and show him their wand waving skills, and after a few criticism and correction they were sent away to practice and the next student was brought forward. Eventually Vincent was called up, grabbing his clod wand he approached the teacher "okay Mr Grant show me your waving", lifting up his wand Vincent began to move "STOP" Vincent jumped at the sudden demand. "You being too absent minded about it" Flitwick said and held up his own wand to demonstrate "see you have to be firm and give the wand adequate attention as you wave" Vincent couldn't see much difference in the wave but apparently the next attempt was more acceptable. "Good that better, now practise that and try to be less aggressive in your wave you don't want to break the wand" and with that Flitwick sent him back to his seat and called up the next student. Returning to his friends Vincent slumped back into his seat and stored his wand back into his inside pocket "you're not going to practice?" asked Jason who was similarly slumped in his chair hand in his pockets. Vincent shook his head "no ive tried some spells already and they've gone decently enough so i dont think theres anything wrong with how i'm waving it" Jason nodded satisfied with his answer. "It's mostly rubbish anyway" Jason said "my brothers told me that technique only really matters in the beginning once you get accustomed of it you can cast a spell with very little waving" June seemed to agree but was quickly distracted by whatever random thought had dropped into her head.

The one on ones with Flitwick took up the entire lesson and after a second potions lesson with Snape it was time for lunch. Reaching the Hall Vincent and Jason split from June and Debbie, who had caught up with them after Charms, and headed for the Slytherin table which was already filled with various foods for the students lunch. Luke was already at the table with a mouth full of sandwiches and crisps, he grunted a hello at them as they sat down and filled their plates. They had barely tucked in when Vincent felt a light tap on his shoulder, turning around he saw a girl he didn't recognise, short black hair and dark brown eyes instantly caught his attention "you're Vincent right?" she said. He nodded slowly, he had noticed a few death stares from the ravenclaw girls since the train incident and the blue lining of this girls robe hinted that maybe they had decided to make a move. But instead she reached into her pocket and pulled out a note, handing it to Vincent she quickly walked away leaving the Hall entirely. "That was strange" Jason said staring archway the left through, Vincent opened the note to find a unreadable mass of squiggles, slowly the squiggles began to arrange themselves forming letters numbers and words.

Vincent

you've proven useful

and it has come to my attention that you might be interested in earning a little wizard currency

meet me in the restricted section of the library tonight at 1130

needless to say don't get caught

"What's it say?" Jason asked as they turned their attention back to the food, Vincent tucked the note into his inside pocket "a reminder that i have to see McGonagall tomorrow" he lied adding another sandwich to his plate. "What for?", Vincent shrugged "something about a parcel from my parents", he quickly finished off the rest of his food and got up they were cutting it close but he figured that they could still get to the next lesson on time.

The rest of the day was uneventful just two lessons Muggle studies and True history, these two were a little too close to normal school for Vincents liking, luckily Vincents history class was held in the library which gave him the chance to get a good look at the restricted section.

his history class was the one lesson of the day none of his friends were in, with no one to ditch Vincent walked back to main entrance planning another flight. "VINCENT" Debbie shouted as she came around the corner in front of him, Vincent swore silently as she ran over to him "so how was your first day?" she asked as she stepped in line following him through the hall. "It was alright i guess" Vincent said annoyed at the intrusion "a little dry but thats probably because were just getting started" Debbie nodded and began a tangent on how she didn't like the girls in her classes and how most of the slytherins weren't as nice as him or the Avada brothers.

Leading them out of the main entrance Debbie continued to absentmindedly follow him chatting away, once they turned the corner Vincent stopped and did a quick check to make sure no one could see them. "Vincent what are we doing out here?" Debbie said looking around them "in my History lesson i noticed a window in the library that was jammed open" he said stepping back so he could get a better look "and?" Debbie asked still confused.

Vincent to could just make out the window he thought was the right one, it was a lot higher up than he had realised "i'm going to fly up there tonight and take a peek into the restricted section". "You have a broom? wait were not allowed in the restricted section if they catch you you might get expelled" she asked her voice high with worry, Vincent smiled, it was funny how much breaking the rules bothered her. "I won't get caught" he said confidently "you're going to help me", not waiting for a response Vincent turned and walked back to the entrance. "What? why me?" Debbie asked panic rising in her voice "because i trust you to do the right thing and help your friend" Vincent answered as they passed through the main entrance and approached the staircase which led to the Slytherin common room. "Just meet me here tonight at ten" Vincent ordered before he descended the stairs leaving Debbie alone and wracked with nerves.

"Death and glory", the bricks in front of Vincent fell away revealing the common room, walking up to the chairs around the fireplace he spotted Luke and Jason sitting in the chairs closest to the fire. "Where'd you disappear to?" Jason asked looking up from the book he was reading "i got dragged off by Debbie" Vincent said half lying "apparently shes having a tough time" he dropped into the chair opposite the brothers. "Why do you put up with her?" Jason scoffed folding his page and setting the book down next to him "she may be annoying but she's loyal, and its good to have someone you know will do as you ask".

Soon the prefects appeared announcing that curfew was about to begin, groaning audibly they retired to their rooms. Luke immediately jumped onto his bed and kicked off his shoes, Vincent quickly ditched his uniform and dressed in the everyday clothes he worn on the train Luke look over at him confusion spread across his face. "I'm going for a midnight stroll" Vincent explained, opening the door slowly he poked his head out, the prefects were supposed to stay up an hour after curfew to dissuade any students from wandering the castle but as Vincent had guessed the Slytherin prefects were to lazy and had gone to bed with the rest of them.

Creeping through the common room unnoticed he continued through the entrance and up the stairs, the hall was so dark Vincent couldn't see his hand in front of his face tripping on the last step he stumbled into the pitch black. His foot collided with something hidden in the dark and a frightened yelp rang through the night, pulling out his wand Vincent cast a quick spell he had been practicing "Lumos" and a bright glow formed at the tip of his wand. His eyes took a moment to adjust but when they did he saw that he had tripped over Debbie, who had apparently been crouched in the arch way "shhh do you want me to get caught" Vincent hissed sharply. Debbie gave a hushed apologize "i had to one of the ghost saw my light i had to wait here or he'd have caught me" Vincent sighed and began to walk towards the main door "come one we're cutting this a little close". Returning to the spot they were earlier Vincent look up and a smile spread across his face the window was still open a perfect way in. For him anyway.

Turning around he faced Debbie, unlike him she hadn't dressed in normal clothing instead she wore what looked like a night dress in which she was shifting nervously, "you see that window?" Vincent asked pointing to the open window high up the side of the building, Debbie nodded. "I'm going to sneak in through there" he said "what i need you to do is signal a red Lumos if you see any of the windows around it light up" he explained carefully wanting to make sure she fully understood. "And if you see a red light come from the library window you run for the nearest teacher and send them to help, understand?", Debbie nodded again concern evident in her eyes, clearly she hadn't thought this would be so dangerous.

"It'll be okay" he promised before he closed his eyes and concentrated, the warm glow spread through his body changing fingers to feathers, arms to wings and teeth into beak. A gasp came from Debbie but Vincent was already in flight, flapping his powerful wings he speed towards the window quickly adjusting his wings Vincent slowed to a more maneuverable speed and slipped through the window.


End file.
